1. Field of the Invention
Store racks used on high performance aircraft have become highly sophisticated devices which many times require great care and time in loading. Typically, the operation of loading a store onto an external bomb rack involves pre-stressing a set of sway braces, usually four per bomb, by means of individually torqued bolts at the end of each sway brace to a predetermined torque level. This puts the bomb suspension into tension by using up all the clearness and provides a rigid connection to restrain the bomb from pivoting. Consequently, precise torque readings are necessary in order to insure the structural limits of the bomb suspension mechanism are not exceeded.
After the store is released, the sway brace mechanism generally remains fixed in a projecting position from the streamline contour of the aircraft and produces considerable drag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical examples of prior art sway brace mechanisms are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,552,578 and 3,670,620. The sway brace mechanism shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,552,578 is arranged such that upon release of the store the sway brace mechanism is retractable to a position within the streamline contour of the aircraft. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the individual sway brace pads must be manually adjusted to accomodate different store sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,620 addresses the problem of individual adjustment of the sway brace pads however, the sway brace mechanism is not retractable within the streamline of the aircraft.